AI receptionist vs virtual receptionist: which does your business need?

The short answer

A virtual receptionist is a person. An AI receptionist is software. If your callers need judgement, tact and a human voice on a hard conversation, and your calls come in manageable numbers during business hours, a virtual receptionist fits. If your calls come at all hours and several at once, and most of them are the same questions about price, availability and the next step, an AI receptionist answers every one for a flat fee and writes each one up. Plenty of small businesses end up with both: the software answers first, and a person takes the calls that need one.

What a virtual receptionist is

A virtual receptionist is a human being, working remotely for a service, who answers your line as your business. They work from a script and a screen with your name on it. They are good at the things people are good at: an upset customer, an unusual request, a caller who needs to be talked down. They are less good at knowing your business beyond the script, and they take a message rather than settling the matter, so you still make the call back.

Pricing is usually per call or per minute, often with a monthly minimum or a bundle of minutes, and coverage follows their roster: nights, weekends and holidays either cost more or are not covered. Most will not call anyone on your behalf. In plain words, with examples: what a virtual receptionist is.

• A person, at a service, answering from a script.
• Billed per call or per minute; monthly minimums are common.
• Their hours, their roster; after-hours coverage is extra when it exists.
• A message, not an outcome: you call the person back.

What an AI receptionist is

An AI receptionist is software on a real phone number. It answers every call instantly, at any hour, and it can take several at once. The good ones hold a conversation rather than reading a menu, and they know everything you have told them: your hours, your prices, what to promise and what never to promise.

The CosVoice line is your own assistant on your own number. You brief it once in plain words, it answers as your business, runs a real intake (who called, what they need, the amounts, the dates, the next step), quotes only from the price list you gave it, and sends you a written summary and the full transcript a moment after the call ends. It also calls out, which a receptionist product usually cannot do. It says it is an assistant whenever anyone asks. The full picture: the AI receptionist for small business.

• Software on a real number, answering every call, at once.
• A flat monthly fee with minutes included; no per-call fee.
• The same at 2am as at 2pm, every day of the year.
• Writes every call up: outcome, details, transcript.

Side by side

The CosVoice column is from our own pages and prices. The virtual-receptionist column describes how those services are usually sold; the exact numbers vary by provider and are on their own pages.

When a virtual receptionist is the better choice

Some phones need a person, and no software should pretend otherwise.

• Your callers are often upset, grieving or frightened, and the first voice they hear has to be human.
• Calls need judgement calls you cannot write down in advance.
• You want a message relayed to a specific person right now, by someone who can chase them down.
• You get a modest number of calls in business hours and the per-call price works out.

When an AI receptionist is the better choice

Most trades and shops live on the other list.

• Calls come at all hours, and a missed call at 7pm is a lost job.
• Several calls land at once: a storm, a promotion, the first morning after a holiday.
• Most calls are the same questions: price, availability, hours, where to send the part.
• You want the details written down, not a request to call back.
• You want the line to make calls as well as take them.

Using both

The two are not rivals for every business. A common arrangement is to let the AI line answer first, every time, and give it a standing instruction about which calls to hand on: it takes the details, tells the caller who will be in touch, and the write-up reaches the person who handles it. A virtual receptionist, or you, then takes only the calls that need a human, with the facts already captured. One honest limit on our side: the CosVoice line does not put an inbound caller through to you live; it takes the details and you call back.

What CosVoice costs

Starter is $29 a month with 100 minutes of calls. Plus is $79 with 300 minutes. Pro is $199 with 1,000. Extra minutes are 25 cents each, there is no per-call fee, and texts, email and the number are included. The free trial is 7 days with 10 minutes of calls; a card is needed, nothing is charged today, and on day 7 it is charged $29 for Starter unless you cancel first. Every plan, side by side: pricing. And next to one AI receptionist sold per caller: CosVoice vs Smith.ai.

Common questions